Closing in on the end of November, some NHL teams have plenty to be thankful for, others need to shake off the Tryptophan and still others ‘ you got it ‘ are just plain turkeys. Pile on the cranberry sauce and feast on this week’s WEEI Power Rankings:

1. (2) 16-5-4 The Sharks have the best road record in the league and have not lost in regulation (7-0-2) at home. They play six of their next eight games at the Shark Tank. Get the picture?

2. (4) 15-5-2 The Blackhawks have the NHL’s best record over the last ten games, 8-1-1. Set the DVR, Grandma, the Hawks are in San Jose Wednesday.

3. (1) 14-6-1 The Devils currently sit sixth in the league in points, but they have played three less games than three of the five teams with more points. Four less games than the Sharks. Win those contests and New Jersey would actually vault past San Jose. That’s a very good hockey team.

4. (7) 13-6-3 Jarome Iginla has 12 goals in his last 10 games, helping to fuel the Flames to a 7-1-3 record on the road.

5. (10) 16-8-0 Starting to round into form ‘ Sidney Crosby nets OT game winner in comeback win in Florida.

6. (3) 13-5-6 The Caps are thankful to be leaving Canada after three straight losses to Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.

7.(17) 11-6-6 The Stars have quietly made their way into the Top 10 with wins in three of their last four games and 28 points in 21 games for Brad Richards. That’ll work.

8. (21) 12-6-3 Four wins in a row for the Sens. Should make for an interesting “Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting” matchup with the B’s this weekend.

9. (20) 13-8-1 Please don’t tell me you saw the Preds taking off on a 8-2 run in their last ten.

10.(12) 12-7-3 The Blue Jackets are making a great case that the second-best team in the Central Division might be from Ohio, not Michigan or Illinois.

11.(5) 14-7-3 Hanging in there, but slowly falling. They are more like a glacier than an Avalanche.

12. (8 ) 13-9-2 No sophomore slump for skilled D-man Drew Doughty, who has 20 points in 24 games, fourth-best among defenseman. Leading scorer Anze Kopitar has just three assists and no goals in last five games.

13. (18) 13-10-1 The Coyotes only move this season is toward greater heights in the standings.

14. (12) 12-8-1 A tough loss for the Flyers in San Jose makes sense. Follow-up setbacks in Phoenix and Colorado, not so much.

15. (10) 11-7-4 The Red Wings already had defensive problems, and losing Niklas Kronwall to a cheap hit will not help.

16. (22) 11–8-4 The Bruins are glad to be getting key players back into lineup ‘ and glad that Patrice Bergeron never left it.

17. (6). 12-6-2 The Sabres are starting to meander through a 4-5-1 stretch in last ten, with three straight losses.

18.(13) 9-5-7 Steven Stamkos is bringing it for the Bolts with 24 points in 21 games. Ryan Malone adding 22 points in 21 games is more of a surprise.

19. (15)10-7-3 Thrashers play entertaining hockey, with power play and penalty killing units within the Top 10. But that needs to translate into wins.

20. (19)12-11-0 A mediocre 5-5 stretch for the Canucks is not where this team expected to be. Last Sunday’s return of leading goal scorer Daniel Sedin after a five-week absence should help.

21. (14)9-8-7 Still playing tough, but counting on Dwayne Roloson to make 58 saves to beat the Leafs is not a great plan. Tests against Flyers, Pens and Devils this week will tell us something.

22. (24) 10-9-3 The Panthers squandered a two-goal lead in a 3-2 OT loss to Pens Monday, but are still 6-2-2 in last 10. They will be making some noise.

23. (16) 12-10-1 The plummet continues. Rangers are 4-6 in last 10, now hitting the road for three.

24.(26) 8-11-3 The Ducks are starting to turn a corner ‘ only a home loss to Sharks marred a decent week. Corey Perry run his league-best point streak to 15 games.

25. (23)11-11-1 Yep. Even keel, .500 hockey sure sounds like a nice time in Montreal.

26. (25)8-12-2 After slow start, the Wild has gone 5-3-2 in last ten. Interesting test against B’s.

27. (29) 8-9-4 An uptempo opening period against Boston Monday showed what the Blues can do. So did a mediocre final two periods.

28. (27) 10-11-3 Not a lot of life here, but the Oilers have won two of three and host the suddenly teetering Kings Wednesday.

29. (29) 4-11-7 The play of Phil Kessel (six goals, three assists, in nine games) still stands as the most entertaining part of the Leafs.

30. (30) 5-13-5 Canes pick up a pair of wins, could be ready to make a move.

As the NHL nears the quarter mark of the season, the WEEI power rankings sort things out.

1. 14-5-0 The Devils are tough on the road (9-1) and just rounding into form under Jacques Lemaire, posting an 8-2 mark in their last 10. Strong start for forward Zach Parise, 24 points in 19 games, a plus-13. Martin Brodeur has started 17 of 19 and posts a .920 save percentage.

2. 14-5-4 Tuesday loss to Nashville costs the Sharks the top spot. Dany Heatley‘s 14 goals not a great surprise, but Patrick Marleau with 13? Still, it’s November.

4. 12-5-2 The Blackhawks are starting to click on all cylinders. Cristobal Huet is getting things done in goal, (2.25 GAA). They have the best penalty-killing in the league. Duncan Keith (15 points in 19 games) is sixth in the league in scoring by defensemen.

5. 13-6-3 The Avalanche may be coming back to earth after a surprising start. The Avs are just 5-4-1 in the last 10 games. Center Ryan O’Reilly is third in rookie scoring (15 points) but was minus-3 in a loss Wednesday.

Milan Lucic still can’t hit anyone, or tee up a slap shot. But he was back on the ice with the Bruins Friday morning in Wilmington.

The hard-hitting winger skated through his first full practice with the team since breaking his right index finger in a game in Dallas on October 16. Lucic also participated in the Bruins brief morning skate prior to Thursday’s 1-0 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.

‘It was nice to get out there with the team, it felt pretty good.I could keep up with the pace, it was a lighter practice,’ said Lucic. ‘Everyday it feels more comfortable and that’s it getting better.’

For now, Lucic can put limited pressure on the injured finger, he was able to participate in tip drills, but he has not been cleared for contact.

‘I’m just taking wrist shots, not big slap shots or those type of things just yet,’ explained Lucic.

Any sort of work with the puck is a welcome relief for Lucic at this stage.

‘The last three weeks I’ve been on the ice and they have been pushing me pretty hard’ he says. ‘For two of those weeks I wasn’t able to handle a puck, so what can really do on the ice without a puck ‘ just skate.’

That extra skating may actually pay dividends when Lucic does return.

‘He’s been skating for quite a while now so he’s in pretty good shape,’ said Bruins coach Claude Julien shortly before his team was departing for Saturday night’s contest in Pittsburgh. ‘If anything he might come back in better shape than he’s ever been.’

While Lucic had indicated he hoped to be back for a November 19 game in Atlanta, the team medical staff will evaluate his progress next week.

‘We go day to day, at one point they are going to tell us how well he is coming along,’ said Julien. ‘Right now, it’s not really a surprise, but he’s a little bit ahead of schedule. That was good news to hear when they told us he could practice with the team.’

Corey Stillman scored the shootout game winner as the Florida Panthers took a 1-0 victory over the Bruins Thursday.

Stillman whisked a backhand shot past Tim Thomas in the fourth round of the shootout. Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun made 40 saves for his third shutout of the season.

Thomas made 23 saves during regulation and overtime. He is also credited with his third shutout of the season despite the shootout setback. He has now posted back-to-back shutouts and has not allowed goal since the first period of a Nov. 5 contest against the Montreal Canadiens, a stretch of 173 minutes and 28 seconds of hockey.

The Bruins completed a four-game home stand with a 2-0-2 mark.

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Boston shut down three Florida power plays and has killed 31 of the last 32 opposition power play chances during the past five games.

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With the Panthers working on an extended five-on-three advantage in the opening period, Thomas made a sprawling stick save to stuff a goal-mouth shot by Nathan Horton.

Later in the same Florida power play, Thomas made a pair of slick poke checks with his goal stick to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard.

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The Bruins allowed Florida just one shot in the second period, a season-low by an opponent. Boston had limited the Penguins to just two shots in the opening period of Tuesday’s 3-0 win.

Despite outshooting the Panthers 19-1 in the second, the game remained scoreless as the Bruins failed to convert on two power play chances.

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Boston’s second line, with David Krejci centering for Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder, showed signs of a pulse in the middle period. The trio pinned the Panthers in the Florida zone for a full shift, generating several scoring chances before changing on the fly, to spirited applause from the restless crowd.

Getting past the swine flu maybe the easy part of David Krejci‘s week. Now the third-year center needs to get his offensive game back in order.

Krejci returned to lineup in Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Pittsburgh. With him having not been able to skate for five days while recovering from the HINI virus, it was not surprising that his game was slightly off.

‘I felt my legs were a little out of shape,’ Krejci said after getting in some extra skating at the conclusion of practice in Wilmington Wednesday.

‘We had some good chances, but I didn’t feel that great all game. My legs weren’t there,’ Krejci said. ‘I was thinking too much. What to do with the puck, it should just be [instinct].Tomorrow, I’ll do everything I can to make it work.’

It certainly would be a good time for Krejci to jump start his game.

After finishing as the Bruins’ second-leading scorer last season (73 points), Krejci inked a three-year, $11.25 million contract extension this summer. He has just five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 15 games this season.

Bruins coach Claude Julien was quick to stress Wednesday that Krejci needs to raise his game.

‘His game is certainly not where it should be,’ Julien said. ‘That’s up to him to work through it. He’s at that stage where he needs to find his game and work through the glitches that he seems to have right now.’

Added Julien: ‘There’s no doubt he’s pressing. Sometimes when guys press they don’t take the right approach to get themselves out of it. My approach is always to work hard, work through it, things will turn around.’

For his part, Krejci seems ready to help lead the Bruins offense.

‘That was my plan coming into the season, things didn’t go the way I wanted but you have to start somewhere. It’s not too late,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to stay positive about being able to develop my game.’

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Defenseman Derek Morris was held out of practice after coming down with the flu Tuesday.